268 Veterinary Elements. 



be in the pharynx when they cause difficulty in swallow- 

 ing; the tongue is rarely found to be affected in Amer- 

 ican cattle, in Europe it is often hardened and is then 

 termed wooden tongue. The disease is rarely general 

 throughout the system except in the later stages. This 

 disease is not strictly speaking contagious from animal 

 to animal according to the latest investigations, in fact 

 the fungus vegetates on the grasses, especially on the 

 awns of the barley family, and by means of these stiff 

 awns may enter the mouth and gain entrance through a 

 small wound, defective tooth, etc., into the system. No 

 satisfactory evidences of the transmission of the disease 

 from animal to man are obtainable, hence the wholesale 

 condemnation for food of animals affected with this dis- 

 ease is wasteful and irrational, condemnation is only 

 excusable when the disease is general throughout the 

 system or sufficiently so to have affected the general 

 health of the animal. The treatment of this disease is 

 in a large majority of cases quite possible and satisfac- 

 tory, iodide of potash in the proper doses being in a 

 measure a specific for this disease. Surgical methods 

 are also very useful, and in a valuable Unirnal with the 

 enlargement in a favorable situation, are to be recom- 

 mended. It is advisable to start treatment as soon as 

 any enlargement is seen, mature cattle should get from 

 one to two drams of the drug twice daily, either in pow- 

 der form in the feed, or dissolved in a little water and 

 given as a drench, the latter the preferable method. The 

 use of the drug should be persisted with until symptoms 

 of iodism, such as weeping from the eyes, scurfy condi- 

 tion of the skin, etc., are shown; generally speaking, the 



